NOTE: These e-mails were originally sent to Greg Leon, who forwarded them to Doveed Linder.

G, Love your mail box, so glad your back. I can honestly say I was the first person to write in way back in the day when you and everyone else was saying that Devon Alexander was the best up-and-coming guy, I said that Tim Bradley was definitely the best and then gave you some inside points about his amazing training regimen. I havent written in for a while since I owned Bread and he didnt want to respond to me, but i dont blame him. He wants to hold on to his "0" hahahahahaha. Anyway I must respectfully disagree with you on your stance that its more Floyd Mayweather's s fault than anyone else's that a fight between him and Manny Pacquiao has not gone off yet. When is the last time Pac has fought a guy who wasnt with Top Rank? In order for Tim to get the fight, he had to sign. A bunch of word play has happened with the Miguel Cotto offer, which tells me its a bunch of b.s. cause hes not with Top Rank, he didnt get the fight at the end of the day. When Joshua Clottey fought Pac, he too was with Top Rank. All of this so just in case pac loses, Bob Arum gets to keep the popularity in house. Its very obvious Greg. Now I will admit Floyd has put a few road blocks up, but I think that Bob Arum in his mind will not allow Pac to fight a non-Top Rank fighter period. And when Floyd offered that money to Pac, and bob started talking about an outdoor stadium, it really showed me Bob wont let it happen. At the end of the day Bob is just much better than Floyd at covering up the fact that he doesnt want to stage that fight. But if there was no Bob Arum, Floyd and Pac would have already fought and Pac would have made 40mill his highest pay day. When was the last time Pac has fought a guy not already under some type of contract with Top Rank? Thats the answer to why they havent fought yet for real.

Linder’s Response: Pacquiao may have only been fighting Top Rank fighters, but he has still been fighting the best available competition around. Joshua Clottey was highly regarded, as he had just pushed Miguel Cotto to the brink in his previous fight. Antonio Margarito out-weighed Pacquiao by about 20 pounds, which adds to the legitimacy of Pacquiao’s accomplishment. Shane Mosley was well past his best, but Pacquiao was running out of choices at that time. There’s no doubt that Bob Arum is playing Monopoly, but put your feelings about Arum aside and just look what Pacquiao has accomplished. In the past couple of years, Pacquiao’s toughest potential opponents have been Juan Manuel Marquez, Timothy Bradley, and Floyd Mayweather. He faced two out of the three. Floyd has never sounded eager to make this fight. Every time the fight seemed close, he always threw out some kind of unreasonable stipulation. In my view, the whole “take the test” and “55-45” was a way to sabotage the fight.

I have a hard time believing anything Bob Arum says. I’m not one of these cats new to boxing, I remember Arum from way back. I was just born when he promoted Foreman but I’ve seen the tapes. I saw him when he promoted Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns and Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather and watching him say ridiculous things and then go back and not only change up on that, but then say something even more ridiculous. In this case, I think Miguel Cotto is being more real that Arum. As for the fights that I think are bigger than Pacquiao v. Juan Manuel Marquez V, I think there are several: Mayweather v. Sergio Martinez is the most meaningful fight in the whole sport. Yes, I know you probably almost fell out of your seat laughing, knowing that Mayweather would never take that fight. But historically it would mean something, it would be literally the biggest challenge Mayweather has ever faced, and he’d probably be an underdog for the first time in his career. But it’s also winnable. Mayweather v Saul "Canelo" Alvarez would be a huge numbers fight, although I don’t think Canelo is ready for it and won’t be for perhaps another year. But it would make crazy numbers and you know De La Hoya would promote it like crazy. There are other fights that would be huge but aren’t yet bigger than part V, like your boy Jean Pascal (after the Chad Dawson rematch)v Andre Ward, Pacquiao v Robert Guerrero, and I like Brandon Rios for a bunch of fights but he just moved up to jr welterweight and I’m not sure what to make of Adrien Broner yet.

Linder’s Response: Promoters are like politicians. They have an agenda, and everything they say is going to support that agenda. Marquez-Pacquiao IV has my vote for “Fight of the Year”. A fifth fight would be huge, but I view Mayweather-Canelo as just as big, if not bigger. I agree that Canelo isn’t quite ready, but most boxing fans don’t realize that. He’s very popular and the fight would do huge numbers. Mayweather wouldn’t be viewed as an underdog against Martinez, but it’s a fight where he would have a realistic chance of losing, whereas if he fought some like Robert Guerrero, nobody would give Guerrero a shot. At this time, you need Pacquiao or Mayweather to create “The Superbowl of Boxing”, but those other fights you mentioned have a lot of appeal to true fans.

C'mon son. This me dawg. Now I spent my last weekend on the phone with Bread making a compelling argument about who is ducking the fight. And while I still don't agree, some of the facts he laid out were quite interesting. I won't repeat what I heard, but this right here what YOU doing is pure garbage and you know it. I wrote that article for you saying how Floyd Mayweather screwed us out of the Manny Pacquiao fight back in 2010. And since then I have done a little digging and for you to drop the blame right in Floyds lap is the epitome of shoddy journalism infected with a personal vendetta against Mayweather. Those of us that have been around KNOW it. You know good and well that of all people who is responsible for this fight not happening, its Bob Arum. Now I know Arum gives you exclusives and as a result you are using your non-existent relationship with Mayweather to please Arum, but c'mon dude, this right here is getting SICKENING. If you are gonna be a journalist, be an unbiased one and dont feed the masses a bunch of bovine scatology. Dude I used to LOVE this site. Bread keeps it real but it seems you only come around now to take a dump on Mayweather. And I am NO FAN of Floyd outside of the ring. I've bombed on him serveral times. Even in the mailbag the answer you gave was bloated. You praise Manny's list of Hall of Fame opponents. Are you talking about Rickey Hatton, Oscar, Cotto, Shane Mosley, and Marquez? You said it like Floyd didnt fight the same damn fighters. More than half of which he fought first. So if they have them in common, why did you even mention it like Manny did something Floyd didn't? And a non-plaster wearing Margarito is more of a threat than a prime Victor Ortiz? We won't even talk about the time frame of negotiations. Manny has claimed to want to fight Floyd IN THE PRESS. But since the 2009 negotiations Manny and Arum has in no attempts tried to negotiate terms for a fight so dont feed us bullshit man. I totally understand your relationship with Floyd is severed and possibly irreparable. But are you gonna continue to report on this Manny and Mayweather thing with obvious bias? If this is what you are gonna do, leave the mailbag to Bread and go back and tend to your fighters. Cause this aint what many of us log in to see. The blame for this fight not happening rest in three parties lap. Mayweather for his ego. Arum for his greed. And Manny for his ignorance. Anything else is just pandering to Arum dude.

Linder’s Response: You shouldn't say Greg’s position is biased, because there are a number of other journalists who feel the same way, including me. It’s nothing personal, it’s just a conclusion that many people have drawn from what they’ve observed. Mayweather had somewhat of a reputation as a dodger before the Pacquiao fight was a possibility. When the negotiations fell apart, it was easy to point the finger at him. I’m not saying that Arum didn’t play a part in this, but the man has promoted some of the biggest fights in history. To my knowledge, there has never been a case of Arum blowing a deal like this. As for Pacquiao, he would not give in to the drug testing and the 45-55 split at first, because he was being insulted. I view Floyd Mayweather as the most technically sound fighter of the last ten years, but I believe that all of his accomplishments will be overshadowed by the Pacquiao fight falling apart.

I'll be short and to the point. Why does Mayweather get all the flack about ducking and such throughout his career, but nobody seems to get at Arum.. Who promoted him for 9 years? I'm not making excuses for him because I wanted to see him whoop Pacquiao and Margarito's ass, just calling it like I see it. -Matt

Linder’s Response: This point has already been covered, but if you talk to a casual fan who knows about boxing only from what they hear in passing, they will tell you that it was Mayweather who didn’t want the fight. Even if Arum made every concession, I don’t think the fight would have happened.